My "Weird" Taste in Music

The Incredible Mr Ford "tagged" me on Facebook this week asking for the first 25 songs that appear on my iPod when I hit the "shuffle songs" option. This is what came up:

1. Schottkey 7th Path - Aphex Twin
2. Rene - The Small Faces
3. Knight on the Town - Kula Shaker
4. Spying Glass - Massive Attack
5. Born to Kill - The Damned
6. Back in the USSR - The Beatles
7. Seal My Fate - Belly
8. Candylion - Gruff Rhys
9. Def Con 2.01 - Saga & Mei Lwun
10. Rachel's Flat - Badly Drawn Boy
11. The Rolling People - The Verve
12. Bitches Ain't Shit - Ben Folds
13. Hold On - Lou Reed
14. Starting Over - The Crystal Method
15. Watermelon Man - Mongo Santamaria
16. (Get off your) High Horse Lady - Oasis
17. Get Lost - Patrick Wolf
18. Das Boot - The Fall
19. Black Diamonds and Blue Pearls - Angie Stone
20. Someday Soon - Doves
21. I Don't Owe You Anything - The Smiths
22. Electroliners - Loose Caboose
23. A Conspiracy - Black Crowes
24. 2 Parcels - John Martyn
25. Mr Grieves - The Pixies.

A good cross section of the type of music that I listen to on a daily basis, tunes that get me through the day depending on my mood and my activities.

My taste in music has been commented on since childhood, formed largely from a very small select few friends and my own investigations through radio, music press and, more recently, the world wide interweb:

Alan Clark at school (The Fall, Pink Floyd, The Stranglers, Bauhaus, The Damned, New Order/Joy Division);

The Incredible Mr Ford at university (The Pixies, The Pogues, Tom Waites, The band) and

Brian Black (Ben Folds, Badly Drawn Boy, Fleet Foxes)

and many more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

The comments have rarely been hugely complimentary and usually include such gems as "what's this crap we're listening to?", "who the hell is this?" and the most recent "this is head banging music, get it off".

Bands like the wonderful Fall attract universal derision from all but the most dedicated followers (erm, pretty much just The Incredible Mr Ford) but more recently Tom Waits's almost unique production, gravel-induced voice and irregular song structure has lead one special person in my life to pull a face. And then there is my new passion for all types of electronic music; house, progressive house, deep house, techno (not so much) and all the other styles of dance music.

Electronic music is the new punk, music that you can produce yourself in your own home with nothing more that a computer and some software.

But nowhere in my collection will you find the "stars" of Pop Idol, Fame Academy or any other "music" television show where ordinary people who look pretty and can sing, can become the next big thing in the music business. People who are molded, shaped, dressed, produced and pushed by people like Simon Cowel who are incredibly talented at making huge fortunes for themselves and their stars.

This is not music but the music business. These guys make money from making music. It is not music for the sake of making music. It's not art. It's a business and nothing else and and these people are very good at what they do. And their acts are very popular as the viewers of these shows spend their money downloading there product from iTunes and occasionally through record stores.

But I can't bring myself to call it "music". They represent a bland, middle of the road dirge that appeals to the masses in the same way that McDonalds does. Burgers for the music industry. Music that's bad for you. Not bad for you in a physical sense but bad for your wallet, your emotions and your satisfaction.

It has no lasting impact on your life because it represents instant gratification based on our warped sense of fame. These stars are stars because they are stars. TV personalities that sing...on TV.

The bands and artists that I like are, in my opinion, just that; artists. They produce music for the sake of the music. Their success is measured on the quality of the art they produce not the number of units they sell or the number of times they appear in TV.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The music industry is being taken back by the artists. Due to the likes of Napster and other elements of the internet, music producers, in the true sense of the word, are able to create and distribute their art widely and very inexpensively. The only challenge they face is the marketing of their work, getting the music out to a large number of people who would appreciate it. This is the only service that the record companies can provide these people now, but their contracts cripple the artists that they need to make their money. Hence the reason for these artificial musicians. That's where these companies are making their money and flooding the traditional airwaves with their bland product.

But those of us who love music will always find the art. We don't care if Mark E. Smith is a millionaire or not, we just want The Fall to continue making their records. Once we hook onto a band we will find their work whether we visit a record store or not.

I have resisted downloading music more many years but now that we can find music that is exclusively produced for the internet, who cares.

Beatport is a perfect example. This an electronic record store that specialises in dance music and includes music that is available on CD and vinyl (my preferred medium) or exclusively on the site. It's easier to search for and easier to buy. It's still a difficult transition to make but if you can't find this brilliant music anywhere else what else can you do.

I don't care what other people think of my music taste and never have. It's my music taste not anyone else's. If I share the passion for a band with someone else then fine and if I can motivate someone else to enjoy a band as much as I do, even better. My taste in music is not "weird" it's wide and varied.

And why does music tend to define us in other people's minds. My taste in literature doesn't attract the same response. Why not. It's as varied as my taste in music. My taste of film is varied too, but not commented on.

I think this is because music is seen as a kid's past time by many. I remember my parents making comments as I got older along the lines of "you're not still listening to this are you". I think they thought it would be a phase that I grew out of but it hasn't worked for me in that way.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to opinions. My opinion is different to others', even the one of those that love music. Some people like music and some people like wine.

Who cares.

Suits and Ties

I have just read an article from the BBC website that a friend on Facebook highlighted that explores the decline in the wearing suits and ties and formal dress at work.

There has definitely been a more casual approach to the dress code at Honeywell in recent years and that was even before moving to the ultra casual British Columbia. The senior leadership team in the UK started turning up to work in Chinos and golf shirts and only wore shirts a ties to visit clients.

Now that we live in Vancouver the casual attitude to dress in the west coast of North America is less formal and Chinos and golf shirts are the norm, even when visiting some clients, clients who also wear Chinos and golf shirts.

Those of us who continue to dress up rather than down, are in the minority. We have "dress down Friday", a routine that I take part in from time to time, but this practise has crept into Tuesday, Thursday, most Mondays and, occasionally, Wednesdays for everyone else. The best we get from some is a blazer with dress pants but no tie.

But this is entirely acceptable here and give those of us who dress more formally the opportunity to stand out particularly when meeting with senior executives in the clients' teams.

Fashion, like many elements of our culture, is cyclical so we may expect to see a rise in the sale of suits in the future. Even here dude!!